Introduction
Natural and artificial disasters and catastrophes occur regularly in one or more parts of the world. Their numbers are increasing as urbanization progresses. This occurs due to various causes, including the influence of anthropogenic factors on the environment, population development, violations or absence of building and technical safety standards, and the cyclical increase and reduction in natural catastrophes. These and other factors drive nations to develop security systems or systems of reaction to various types of hazards (United Nations, 1995).
Thus, there is a unique type of interstate relationship – interactions in the sphere of forecasting, monitoring, prevention, management, and elimination of the repercussions of natural and manufactured catastrophes. I would use the recent earthquakes in Turkey as an example to understand better how nations respond to catastrophes. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of emergency management.
Objectives
- to determine how the state and various organizations acted during the earthquakes in Turkey.
- to assess the legality of the deployment and the effectiveness of the security measures taken.
Disaster Description
Recently, there was a massive catastrophe in the world that destroyed and even took the lives of many people. The survivors had to leave their homes and move to a safer neighborhood. A massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6 killed over 5,000 people and wounded many more (Cinar et al., 2023). Rescuers and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to pull victims from the wreckage, but unfavorable weather conditions are working against them. Photos 1 and 2 show images of the earthquakes in Turkey and the devastation they caused.
Temperatures in the impacted areas have sometimes plummeted below freezing, and significant snowfall has fallen in several spots with a magnitude of 7.4; an earthquake struck the Turkish province of Kahramanmarash, which is close to the Syrian border (Canpolat et al., 2023). A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Turkish region of Gaziantep shortly after the first (Canpolat et al., 2023).
Seismologists have always been drawn to Turkey, and since the 1980s, the German Research Centre for Geological Sciences (GFZ) in Potsdam has been building measuring equipment and undertaking seismic monitoring throughout Turkey (Canpolat et al., 2023). These findings indicate that the danger of earthquakes is exceptionally high in the entire region around the Sea of Marmara, on the shore of which Istanbul is located. Seismic waves created by earthquakes represent a real threat to buildings, infrastructure, and the surrounding people. Their strength is critical in terms of potential damage and fatalities.
Effectiveness of Initial Aid Deployment
The humanitarian needs of earthquake-affected communities in Turkey and Syria were huge, and the depth of the disaster cannot be overstated. Following the incident, Turkey’s government announced the fourth (highest) state of alert, allowing for foreign help and national mourning. Active rescue efforts began to extricate individuals from the rubble: rescuers, medics, and volunteers were dispatched to the country’s southeast.
The Syrian government also made steps to assist earthquake victims, and the Foreign Ministry described the situation in the nation as a “humanitarian catastrophe.” Professionals and volunteers worldwide began to converge to assist local rescuers. Rescue teams from 88 nations landed in Turkey alone, totaling 11,000 international rescuers (Dal Zilio & Ampuero, 2023).
Azerbaijan was the first to send expertise, followed by the former Soviet republics, China, India, the United States, European nations, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, and New Zealand. Armenia sent food and medication to the disaster area, and for the first time in 35 years, a border crossing for trucks carrying humanitarian help was opened. Turkish and Syrian embassies and consulates worldwide have opened to accept humanitarian donations from local communities.
Large corporations have also taken an active role in the aid process. For example, the American giant Amazon and its customers contributed over 100,000 critical supplies to the victims, sent via Amazon’s fulfillment center in Turkey (United Nations, no date). Following the earthquakes, more than 40 search and rescue teams from 20 nations were dispatched to Turkey (Dal Zilio and Ampuero, 2023).
Syria has received a separate UN emergency assessment and response coordinating team. It is also worth noting that the single cross-border passage authorized by the Security Council, the Bab al-Hawa crossing, has been opened to bring supplies to Syria from Turkey. The World Food Programme (WFP) has also assisted needy families devastated by the terrible earthquake in Turkey and Syria (United Nations, n.d.). To satisfy the immediate humanitarian needs of half a million people, 46 million dollars were required.
Charitable organizations deliver enormous relief to Turkey and Syria through rescue workers, medics, volunteers, humanitarian supplies, and money. For example, the Turkish section of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies stated that it has deployed over 5,000 personnel and volunteers to the impacted districts with food and other essentials (Dal Zilio and Ampuero, 2023).
According to the organization, the teams have now given more than 31 million hot meals. In Syria, Arab Red Crescent personnel have assisted around 365,000 individuals in the most impacted districts (Hama, Aleppo, Latakia, and Tartus) (Dal Zilio and Ampuero, 2023). Medical units supplied first assistance, performed emergency evacuations, and transported individuals to hospitals. Volunteers on the ground helped earthquake victims contact their loved ones and gave over 220,000 gifts of food and supplies. The organization also dispatched its blood supplies to the impacted areas to fulfill the increased demand for blood among the injured.
Turkey has committed to examining anybody suspected of being involved in the buildings’ collapse and has ordered the imprisonment of more than 100 people, including real estate developers. In general, the deployment of humanitarian organizations was legal because it took place under the rigorous supervision of the UN and other international alliances (United Nations, no date). This permits us to infer that all monies intended to aid the victims have been received.
Adherence to Legal Standards in Deployment
This catastrophe demonstrated that not all developers followed building codes. The ancient structures were shown to be “houses of cards” that fell in a matter of minutes. To avoid a recurrence of catastrophe, the Turkish government decided to thoroughly examine the existing status of real estate, assess its viability, and implement new operating standards.
According to Turkey’s Ministry of Urban Development, more than 821 thousand houses have been rendered inoperable due to the earthquake in the country’s southeast (United Nations, no date). The panel reviewed almost 1 million 706 thousand buildings (United Nations, no date). In addition, over 655 thousand residential properties were designated as decrepit or emergency housing (United Nations, no date).
Immediately following the event, officials temporarily relocated impacted persons to safe areas. Many individuals were in Alanya and Antalya, and because the tourist season had not yet begun, hotels could accommodate residents. Those unable to pay for housing on their own may receive government assistance.
The largest live charity fundraiser in history was organized. It was dubbed “Turkey – One Heart” and raised 6.1 billion dollars (United Nations, no date). There was also a surge in financial donations via AFAD’s official website. As soon as the search and rescue activities were concluded, three commissions were formed, with police, prosecutors, and building specialists serving on each.
An expert assessment of the fallen houses revealed that the sand and gravel composition in the concrete did not fulfill the specifications. The gravel bits in the whole mass should not be more than 3 cm; in other cases, they were the size of a fist (Dal Zilio and Ampuero, 2023). This drastically decreases the foundation’s strength, stability, and the entire structure. As a result, the Turkish government has allowed the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to provide certifications, including information concerning earthquake resilience to hotels and enterprises.
The government intends to finish building dwellings in 11 earthquake-affected areas by 2023. Using a rapid scanning procedure, Istanbul has begun destroying houses rated as having the highest collapse risk. The Istanbul administration proposes compensating inhabitants with 4,500 liras for each flat to entice them to leave their disadvantaged housing (Dal Zilio and Ampuero, 2023).
Evaluation of Security Measures
The Turkish president stated that the structures would be built on a strong foundation and with proper processes and that they would be erected away from fault lines, closer to the mountains, to avoid difficulties caused by soft soil. Thus, the measures taken by the Turkish government can be called quite effective. The affected population received compensation, temporary shelter, and all the necessities of life. To prevent recurring disasters, the rules of house construction, material composition, and location were tightened.
As a result of urbanization and population expansion, the size of catastrophe repercussions has grown dramatically. It became essential to establish methods for disaster prevention, population training, and consequence elimination, such as building reinforcement and drainage system preparedness. Relations on natural disaster protection were created at the domestic level in managing natural and manufactured calamities.
Conclusion
The recent crisis in Turkey caused by earthquakes exemplifies how humanitarian organizations and the government responded and dealt with the aftermath. In this situation, everyone performed pretty sensibly without infringing the law and offering aid to all those in need. Despite the presence of national emergency management systems, situations around the globe are becoming more common, and the afflicted state cannot cope with the repercussions of catastrophes on its own. As a result, countries should be prepared to assist one another, as demonstrated by Turkey’s earthquakes.
Reference List
2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake (2023) Center for Disaster Philanthropy. Web.
Canpolat, N., Saygili, S. and Sever, L. (2023) ‘Earthquake in Turkey: Disasters and children’, Turkish Archives of Pediatrics, 58(2), pp. 119–121. Web.
Cinar, E.N., Abbara, A. and Yilmaz, E. (2023a) ‘Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria—collaboration is needed to mitigate longer terms risks to health’, BMJ [Preprint]. Web.
Dal Zilio, L. and Ampuero, J.-P. (2023) ‘Earthquake doublet in Turkey and Syria’, Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1). Web.
Kajastie, N. (2023) Turkey-Syria earthquakes: What lessons can the Ground Engineering Sector Learn?, Ground Engineering (GE). Web.
Türkiye-Syria earthquake response (no date) United Nations. Web.
United Nations (1995). Yokohama strategy and plan of action for a safer world: Guidelines for natural disaster prevention, preparedness, and Mitigation.
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